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6 months ago
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Australia has been confirmed on a list of potential host countries for an NFL game as soon as the 2025/26 season with officials set to visit prospective venues in coming months with the MCG a possible host venue.
NFL teams the LA Rams and Philadelphia Eagles, where Australian Jordan Mailata has become a star, have formal ties with Australia and the league is looking to expand its global footprint.
Mailata is among a raft of Australians in the NFL, including punter Tory Taylor who was drafted by the Chicago Bears, Jotham Russell joined the New England Patriots and Patrick Murtagh the Jacksonville Jaguars ensuring high priority for a potential regular season match.
The NFL has included Australia on a list of countries that could host a regular-season game - with the Philadelphia Eagles and their Aussie star Jordan Mailata (pictured) one of the favourites to play Down Under if the history-making move comes off
Team owners voted last December to authorise the league to host eight games internationally each season and games will be played in London, Germany and Brazil this coming season. A game in Spain is slated for 2025.
The future could include a game in the Asia-Pacific region sooner rather than later and Peter O'Reilly, the NFL's head of international affairs, said at the league's spring meetings that Australia is among the markets being discussed.
'Australia is among a set, and it's not a small set of markets, that we're looking at,' O'Reilly said having updating team owners on the list of countries named as possible hosts.
Any games would in Australia would likely be played in October and November, putting major venues including the MCG and Accor Stadium in Sydney in line to host.
The Los Angeles Rams (quarterback Stetson Bennett, pictured) are a leading contender for the match, with both them and the Eagles having formal ties to Australia
Melbourne should be in the box seat to host a game after being the first Australian city to put its hand up for the match, with the Melbourne Cricket Club reportedly exploring the possibility ahead of the NFL's announcement on Tuesday.
The MCG traditionally converts to cricket as soon as the AFL season is over but has previously held off dropping in pitches to accommodate other major events including concerts.
On Wednesday, Venues NSW chairman David Gallop also threw Sydney's hat into the ring.
'We just saw Travis Kelce here with Taylor Swift; let's get him out here in his helmet and pads for the Kansas City Chiefs,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Accor Stadium hosted a preseason match between the Denver Broncos and the San Diego Chargers in 1999.
The match would likely draw a huge crowd and both Melbourne and Sydney are vying to bring the game to Australia (pictured, Los Angeles Rams fans earlier this year)
Sydney hosted a preseason game in 1999 between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers, but a regular season game has never been held down under (pictured, Jordan Mailata, centre, plays against the Seattle Seahawks last season)
Knowing what it takes to move games off-shore, O'Reilly said the 'logistics' of staging an NFL game so far from the US would have to be considered.
'When you start to talk about Asia, Pacific and Australia, you talk about distance and logistics and the football component of that,' O'Reilly said.
'So those factors are real.
'But our role is to really look at the globe, look at where the fan base is strong and do the diligence, make the evaluations.'
The NFL's Australian presence will already increase when an official academy opens in September on the Gold Coast.
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